March 31, 2016

WWE World Heavyweight Champion Triple H did a media call today to promote Friday's WWE NXT "Takeover: Dallas" event. We will have more highlights later but below he talks about Takeover, the WWE Global Cruiserweight Series, working with indie promotions and more.

* He mentioned how he always says it's an exciting time for NXT and today is no different as they're about to have their first Takeover special that's a part of WrestleMania weekend. He talked about how they went from Florida to The Arnold in Columbus, the non-televised WrestleMania 31 Week event to this year's Takeover event. He says the brand has grown in a massive way in one year and he's looking forward to seeing it continue to grow. He said it's very exciting and should be amazing

* He reminded everyone that Takeover starts at 9pm EST tomorrow night with the pre-show. The actual main show airs at 10pm EST. He said it will be an amazing show with a ton of talent. He believes Austin Aries' debut against Baron Corbin will be very exciting for fans. He said Corbin has really come into his own recently. He said Shinsuke Nakamura's debut is going to be one of the most exciting things on the card. He's been a big fan of Nakamura for a while and he's looking forward to seeing what he does in WWE. He also said Sami Zayn continues to wow people. Triple H called American Alpha and The Revival two of the best tag teams in the world right now. He said he's been looking forward to Asuka vs. Bayley since Asuka arrived. He praised Bayley as champion and called Asuka a destroyer. He also said he can't wait for the Samoa Joe vs. Finn Balor rematch from London to take place.

* They are very excited about the buzz for the WWE Global Cruiserweight Series. He talked about working with other indie promotions for the qualifying matches and said it's an exciting time that opens the door to a lot of things. As noted, he announced Rich Swann, Tommaso Ciampa, Johnny Gargano, Zack Sabre Jr., Noam Dar, Ho Ho Lun and Akira Tozawa for the tournament. He called it a very diverse group and said they're looking for the absolute best to be involved with this.

* He announced NXT will return to the UK in June. They will start on June 10-12 at the Download music festival. They will go through Belfast, Dublin, Liverpool, Bournmouth and Plymouth.

* Triple H then took questions from the media and was asked if they are now signing talents just for NXT to keep there instead of signing them with the potential to go to the main roster. Triple H said he dislikes saying "main roster and NXT" because it feels like it lessens things. He said NXT is a brand and he wants to present it like that. Anyone who is signed with WWE has the potential to be on RAW, SmackDown or WrestleMania. He's sure that is everyone's goal in this industry and if it's not, he would be shocked. He said NXT is an amazing brand in itself and he has guys calling saying they want to be a part of NXT, who are happy with making it to the main roster but fine if they don't. That's amazing to him. He wants to treat it like a brand and doesn't want to lose perspective of what they do. He said as guys come out of the Performance Center and are ready to go to NXT, they will. As they get ready for RAW and SmackDown, they will go. He said there are a lot of guys and girls in NXT who would be ready for the transition. He said it's all about timing and the different positions you need filled. He said, "I can't have 12 short-stops."

* He was asked about the relationships with independent promotions for the Cruiserweight Series qualifying matches. Triple H said they're figuring a lot of that out as they go but he called it a win-win for everyone. He's a big fan of the independent undercurrent of everything they do and he believes it's important to the health of the business. These are things that help those promotions but also help the legitimacy and the image of what WWE is doing. He said it's a great thing and a win-win. He also noted that WWE will be promoting the qualifying matches on their website and other pages.

* He was asked if he sees a time in the near future where they do more than 4 Takeover specials per year. He said anything is possible because the NXT brand grows so rapidly. It's hard for him to say what they can do in the future but he doesn't want to over-saturate the market. He likes what they're doing and the product they have. He always hears people say NXT should be two hours each week but said then you run into bigger problems. He likes the way they're doing things and people like the product so that's wonderful. He said if they can increase things then that's great. He said he's just seeing where everything goes and what the demand is

* He was asked if they will start doing more teasers and vignettes with new NXT talents and NXT talents getting called up. He is open to doing more of those but tries not to follow one plan for everyone. He tries to look at each talent they're bringing in and create a plan. If that includes vignettes that air for 3-4 weeks, like they're doing with "No Way Jose" now, they're open to it.

* He was asked if he or other WWE representatives will be at some of the Global qualifying matches in the UK since the company will be in town. He joked that he doesn't even know what he's doing all day tomorrow and said there are too many things on the calendar to look that far ahead. He said maybe to an appearance by someone. They are working on the relationships to see what he's there. He's not trying to take over anything that Progress or Revolution Pro is doing. He said they are doing a great job and doing their thing. WWE can give them a rub and benefit from that rub in some way, like letting people learn more about the Global Series talents. He mentioned getting the talents and the promotions more exposure. It's not about WWE coming in and planting their flag at Progress, he's not interested in that at all. In regards to working with other promotions, he's open to working with quality promotions of a style and quality that they like and want to do business with. If he likes their style and what they're doing, he's open to working with them. He was asked about Zack Sabre Jr. and Noam Dar. He praised them both, calling them amazing in-ring athletes and phenomenal talents. He said he has a team that William Regal and Canyon Cemen are a big part of. They look across the world for talents that have potential and may be a diamond in the rough. They're just looking for great talents.